The Unexpected
by brokenhrtsville
Summary: The future may be safe, but Chris still can't relax. There are demons to fight, innocents to save, and when Piper goes missing, not even a pretty girl can get his mind off business. Right? Set after alternate ending to Bad, Bad World, Pt. II
1. Prologue

I own nothing, which is pretty lame but okay with me because Chris is dead and he's all I'd really want to own.

**Prologue:**

"Prepare to die, witch!" threatened a large hunchbacked demon with three leathery horns. He brandished an athame in the direction of a dark haired witch, who, without looking up from her basting, tossed a meat cleaver at the intruder. The cleaver flew straight through the demon and imbedded itself in the doorframe behind him, while the demon bellowed and disintegrated. The shaggy haired man who was halfway through the doorway froze in mid-step and stared at the athame that had narrowly missed his head. The witch looked up.

"Chris? Are you okay?"

"Yea. I'm just having trouble assimilating the fact that I was just nearly decapitated," the young Whitelighter replied. "Why are you throwing knives around the kitchen?" Absentmindedly paging through a cookbook, Piper responded,

"There was a demon."

"A demon?" Chris repeated, instantly serious. "Was it anything familiar?"

"Nope. Hand me that sifter." Chris handed his mother a measuring cup and pulled the cleaver out of the doorframe.

"You can scry with this and maybe find a hive or a lair or something, right?"

"I guess I could if I wanted to. The sifter, Chris!"

"Mom, forget the sifter. We have demons to find!" Rolling her eyes, Piper walked around the island and, glaring at her younger son, grabbed the sifter that lay next to his left hand.

"No Chris, we don't have demons to find. I stabbed, he hollered, he turned to dust. Case closed."

"You don't know who he was!"

"I don't care who he was! He's dead now, no harm done, and I have lots and lots of food to finish. Plus, his opening line was corny."

"What's gotten into you?"

"Me?"

"All three of you. You're acting like anything magical is practically irrelevant lately."

"I guess we all feel like we deserve a little break from things magical. After all, we stopped Gideon and saved the future from the evil your brother could've done, so why shouldn't we be easing up on our charmed duties? It's not like we're sitting on our asses instead of going out of vanquishes, Chris. Phoebe's giving lectures, Paige is working harder then ever with the children's hospital, and I… I am basting!" The happiness that was radiating off of Piper was not anything he'd ever seen on her, but he knew immediately what had caused it. A gentle smile broke out across his face and he said accusingly,

"I don't think the basting is what's causing that grin. I think you're just glad to be back together with Dad." Piper smiled in response and turned to her son.

"I've gotta tell you, life is good when you're in love. I'd look into it if I were you," Picking up her turkey pan and heading towards the oven, Piper gestured towards the ceiling with her giant eyedropper. "Go up to the attic and B O S the demon if you feel like it. Hunchbacked, three horns, athame."

Chris left the kitchen, pausing to glance back over his shoulder at his mother, who was now grating cheese and enthusiastically whistling the theme song for "Bonanza". He was grinning as he climbed the stairs, but his face fell upon entering the attic. His mind was on love, so the memories of Bianca hit him more furiously then usual. The attic was where he'd left her to go back and stop Wyatt, and it was where she'd died in his arms, victim of the same brother's general badness.

"Love?" he muttered to himself, shaking his head. "I think that's just about the last thing I need right now."


	2. Chapter 1

_I still own nothing…_

**Chapter One:**

Three weeks later, Chris Perry Halliwell sat alone on one of the faded couches in the Manor attic, Book of Shadows open in his lap, and thought back on the beautiful, happy, and almost carefree Piper that he'd spoken to that morning. It had now been four days since he'd let her get away, and he was still constantly kicking himself for doing so. He should've been able to stop it; after all, he'd been in the conservatory with her when the demon had arrived unexpectedly, shot a Darklighter arrow into his side, and shimmered out, a shocked Piper in tow. Chris had barely had time to call for Leo before passing out, but when he woke up and realized he'd let a demon get away with his charge, even worse, with his mother, he'd almost wished the arrow's poison had killed him after all. Phoebe, Paige, and Leo had reassured him endlessly that things had happened too quickly for him to have done anything, but with four days of fruitless scrying and spell-casting, they were starting to lose their optimism. He was starting to lose his mind.

Closing his eyes and letting his head fall back onto the back of the couch, Chris let his usual cynicism drop and sent out a silent but desperate prayer for help. To his mild surprise, the pages of the Book began to flip on their own, until landing on a page near the back which he was certain he had never seen before.

"Thanks, Grams," he said to the ceiling before leaning forward to read the spell listed. "'To Find the Source of Misfortune'… Sounds like we might be onto something here! Paige! Phoebe! I think I found something!" His aunts, hearing the trace of hope in Chris's voice, barreled into the attic and crowded around the Book.

"Let me see!" Phoebe whined, nudging Paige, who pushed Chris off the couch to make room for herself and her sister.

"Do you mind?" Chris asked, semi-crossly.

"No, of course not, honey," Paige replied sweetly, before turning her attention to the Book. "This actually looks like it might help us. I can't believe we never noticed it before!"

"Paige, you know how this works. It probably wasn't there before," Phoebe replied, hurrying around to collect items needed for the spell. "Okay, I think we have everything we need. Should we do it?"

"You think we should wait for Leo?" Paige asked. "He's still out there aimlessly searching the Underworld."

"Exactly. He wouldn't hear us even if we did call. Besides, he won't mind us leaving him out if it means we find Piper any quicker," Phoebe waited for Paige to agree with a nod, and cleared her throat to begin casting the spell. "Here we go. 'Misfortune is felt; hurt has increased. Show me the source so pain is released'."

The sisters and Chris waited expectantly for the spell to take effect, but were soon blinded by a burst of purple light that exploded in the middle of attic, followed by a small tornado. Seconds later, all had cleared away, and Phoebe, Paige, and Chris looked up to find a small, angry, and very confused demon standing in the middle of their Persian. At least, Chris instantly assumed it, she, was a demon, because she looked exactly like Piper, but was at the same time distinctly un-Piper. As he and his aunts stood with their jaws dropped, reeling in shock and bewilderment, the Piper look-alike spoke, revealing a very slight but very not-Piper southern accent.

"Could one of y'all please collect your lower jaws off of the carpeting and explain to me what the hell is going on here?" Phoebe recovered first.

"That is not nearly as important as your explaining who the hell you are!"

The Not-Piper reeled backwards in indignation and replied acidly, "First you rudely summon me away from my business, and then, not only do you not recognize me, but you treat me like some demon who just busted into your house, uninvited!"

"Yea, okay, but aren't you some demon who just busted in here uninvited?" Paige ventured, much to the Not-Piper's fury.

"Of course not! I have gotten used to demons not knowing who I am, though I still don't like it, but to have witches not know it, well it just pisses me off!" She looked around, and, noticing the chorus of blank stares pointed in her direction, sighed and pressed on. "I am 33 of the legendary Charmed Ones. Piper, to be exact. I would not mess with me if I were you. And who are you, exactly?"

Chris took in this ridiculous proclamation, saw similar expressions of incredulity on the faces of his aunts, and, with a disbelieving half-chuckle, retorted, "Yea, no you're not." The Not-Piper indignantly insisted,

"Am so! Do you want me to blow you up to prove it?"

"Um, no," Paige said. "Not necessary. It would be amusing to see you try, but no. Why are you impersonating Piper?"

"Look, kids, I don't know who you are or how you got me here, but if you don't back off, it won't be pretty."

"Okay, let's cut to the chase here," Phoebe interrupted, cutting off a new stream of threats from the imposter. "We know you're not Piper, because we are the other 66 of the legendary Charmed Ones, and our last third does not say 'y'all'. Therefore, all we can assume is that you're some psycho demon trying to-" she broke off and turned to Paige for support. "Help me out. Why would a psycho demon want to pretend to be our sister?"

"You have got me there," Paige replied, throwing her arms up in despair. "But weirder things have happened. Crystals! Circle!" she called for the crystals used to make cages and set one around the now very uneasy looking stranger. "Let's ask her, shall we?" Phoebe gestured towards the Not-Piper, who was now scanning the crystal cage for methods of escape.

"Be my guest, sister dear." Paige turned to the Not-Piper and offered a smile.

"Okay. We have established that you are here for reasons that none of us understand, and also that you are not Piper, even though you kind of look exactly like her. Let's review. We cast a spell asking for the source of our misfortune, so somehow you must be connected to the real Piper's disappearance, right?" She looked to Chris and her sister for backup. Chris nodded and cut in.

"I think we can assume both from your surprise at being here and the fact that you didn't recognize these two that you didn't do the actual kidnapping. You didn't, did you?" he asked the nervous looking Piper impersonator, who answered reluctantly.

"Of course I didn't kidnap Piper. That really would've messed with my plan."

"Which was?" Paige asked pointedly.

"None of your concern," the Not-Piper replied coolly.

"It can become my concern once I toss some tiny crystals at your cage and zap you up real nice, if you get what I'm saying here." Paige retorted.

"That's nice, girls, resorting to torture. How very primitive of you. My plan has nothing to do with you or with my being here, but I'll tell you this much: I got on the bad side of some pretty hardcore demon figures, so, to protect myself, I decided to spend a little time living the life of a Charmed One. And I've got to tell you, it ain't a bad life to live."

"I…" Phoebe searched for words but found none, so she turned to the others. "Can somebody else please think of something to say, because I've got nothing!" Paige took the lead.

"Dude, are you a shape-shifter, or this some kind of wonky spell?" The Not-Piper looked almost disgusted.

"I'm a shape-shifter. Give me some credit for class, here, y'all. It wasn't easy to learn enough about Piper to be able to play her convincingly."

Phoebe's eyes grew wide in shock.

"You think you know Piper? You didn't even recognize her sisters or her son!"

"Son?" the Not-Piper turned her bizarrely familiar, yet foreign stare onto Chris, who shifted uncomfortably. "This guy is her kid? How the hell does that work?"

"I came back from the future, all right? In this time I'm a month old baby who desperately needs his mommy, so if you have anything to contribute to the finding of said mommy, give it up or get out of our attic!" Chris hollered. The Not-Piper, instead of reacting with fear or even surprise, regarded him carefully, and then nodded her head.

"Okay. I don't know why y'all's spell would've brought me here or if I can even help, but if I can, I will." A moment passed while the sisters and Chris considered this with suspicion, and she continued. "That is, if you'll let me out of this cage. It's not like I can go anywhere or anything. No transporting power."

Chris turned towards his aunts in question. Phoebe shrugged at him.

"Hey, your spell means your call. It's up to you."

"When did we make that rule?" Paige asked dubiously. "Maybe we should vote democratically and keep the demon inside the cage, how about that?" Phoebe shushed her sister and looked to Chris, who was clearly trying to decide what to do.

"What do you think, nephew dear?" Phoebe asked him.

"Let her out," Chris said decisively. "She's not going anywhere, and she may be able to help us.

"Whatever you say, dude," Paige answered, orbing the crystals back into the box.


	3. Chapter 2

_Nothing is mine, except the Season 1 DVD and a homemade Charmed board game._

**Chapter Two**

The Piper who wasn't Piper, having been freed from her crystal cage, began to wander around the attic, admiring knickknacks and checking out the view from various windows. Phoebe, Paige, and Chris watched her until they were all thoroughly creeped out by her resemblance to Piper, and then turned to regroup around the Book of Shadows.

"Do you really think she's involved with this whole mess?" Paige asked. "Maybe we just got a spell backfire and we should send her on her way."

"It could've been a backfire, but I don't think it was," Chris replied. "She's involved, if indirectly. I just can't stand how much she looks like Mom." He turned back to the demon. "Hey, listen- Wait. I need a name. I can't keep calling you the un-Piper in my head, okay?" The Not-Piper grinned.

"Understandable. My name's Alexis."

"Okay, we're getting somewhere!" Chris said enthusiastically. "Step Two would be un-shape-shifting, if that's kosher with you of course." Alexis hesitated.

"Promise not to B O S me?" she asked. When the group agreed, she raised her right arm over her head and snapped her fingers. When the cloud of sparks had cleared, Chris took a step back in surprise. Alexis laughed nervously.

"Not what you were expecting?"

Chris shook his head ruefully. She was definitely not what he'd expected. No horns, no fangs, no leather, just a pretty, dark-haired girl who definitely did not look like his mother. He stared.

"Uh, oh, someone likes the demon," Phoebe muttered to Paige.

"What?" asked Alexis.

"Uh, nothing," Phoebe said quickly. "Listen, how about you tell us what you know about the upper level badasses that you pissed off, because chances are good that your badasses are our badasses too."

"You think so?" Alexis responded doubtfully.

"Why else would the spell have brought you here?" Paige's logic made sense, so Alexis began.

"Okay. Well, it's kind of a chain of badasses. You see, I went to this demonic protection service and was given a guardian called Tajna. He's some sort of fallen Darklighter, I think. After I fell out of favor with the service, Tajna was given permission to organize a faction of guardian demons to come and kill me, so I didn't know what was going to come looking for me. I went into hiding and gathered information about your sister, then came into the open and told them I was Piper and I had killed Alexis. Tajna and his followers bought it and left me alone, but his superiors, upper level demons and such, knew I was a shape-shifter and ordered me brought back to them. I locked myself up in my apartment, made dozens of potions, and waited for them to come for me, but no one ever did. Then I ended up here."

"The demons must have nabbed the real Piper instead of her," Phoebe said to Paige and Chris. "We have to get to them and get her back."

"Agreed," Chris said, turning back to Alexis. "Can you help us find the bad guys' HQ?"

"Yea, sure," she responded in a decisive tone. "The entrance is hidden in one of those really old tombs in the cemetery. What else do you need to know? I'll do whatever I can do to help."

"No," Paige cut in. "If the bad guys are already after you, then you should stay out of there as long as you can. We need to get in there, kick some ass, and get Piper home without any trouble. Right, guys?"

"No!" Alexis cut in, indignant. "I am not some dim-witted warlock. I realize that I'd only be a hassle as me, but I'd go as Piper. Since they have the real Piper but they think it's me, they'll believe me if I say I'm the real Piper, especially if I show up with y'all."

"You know," Chris said thoughtfully. "That actually makes sense. Threatening Tajna and the gang with the Power of Three packs the most punch, whether it's the genuine Power of Three or not. I say we do it. Phoebe?" Phoebe had turned to focus on Alexis, and was concentrating fiercely, as though trying to read her as she had read countless demons while still an empath.

"Oh, stupid power," she mumbled to herself before turning back to her sister and her nephew. "I don't know. I see Chris's logic, but what happens if Alexis here betrays us in the middle of the fight? That's a pretty big risk."

"Hey now," Alexis protested. "It's as much in my interest as in yours to take out these demons. After all, they want me dead. Betraying y'all would be sentencing myself to death, and that's just not smart."

"I don't know…" Paige began, but Alexis cut her off again.

"Listen to me, you guys. Every minute that we spend arguing about this is another minute Piper spends with those dirtbags. Is that what you want?"

There was a moment of silence, and all three Halliwells sprang instantly into action. Paige grabbed Phoebe's hand, while Chris took Alexis's, and they orbed off to the cemetery. Alexis, clearly pleased, snapped her fingers again and shape-shifted back into Piper before leading the apprehensive group to a large, earthen tomb that was so old that the names could no longer be read. She pointed at a small trapdoor that lay semi-hidden at their feet.

"It's through there. Are y'all ready for this?" When Paige, Phoebe, and Chris all nodded their assent, she took a deep breath and lifted the trapdoor, revealing a dark, narrow set of stairs. The three Halliwells, led by their fake Piper, charged down the stairs into a dimly lit room filled with assorted demons surrounding the real Piper, who was crumpled on the floor, hands tied behind her back, looking disheveled and pissed off.

"What the bloody hell took you guys so long?" she demanded with a shade of her old fierceness, struggling to stand but collapsing back onto the ground.

"Piper!" Phoebe gasped, turning to Chris. "We'll distract the demons, you orb her the hell out of here!"

"The Charmed Ones!" the large demon standing at Piper's left said, causing his fellow demons to shift nervously. "I was wondering when you'd find out about our little service here. Are you looking for a bodyguard?"

"No, no bodyguard," Phoebe replied coolly. "We'll just take the shapeshifter."

"The shapeshifter?" the demon asked, grinning. "Interesting turn of events, this. Well, ordinarily we'd say no way, but since you are such prestigious guests to our facility, we might be able to make you a bargain. What sort of powers could you offer?"

"I don't have time for this!" Phoebe muttered to herself before shouting to her nephew. "Now, Chris!" Chris orbed to his mother's side and orbed away, while Paige grabbed Phoebe and Alexis and followed. When the girls reached the manor they found Chris, attempting unsuccessfully to revive Piper, who lay crumpled on the living room floor.

"Leo!" Paige shouted, panicking, and for a few tense seconds the worried group wondered if the Whitelighter was still in the Underworld and would not be able to hear them, but he orbed into the room.

"Piper!" he breathed, knocking Chris out of the way as he fell to her side and started to heal her. The golden lights lit the scene, but the greenish tinge of Piper's skin did not fade. Several seconds later, she regained consciousness with a start and began to cough painfully. Leo pulled his wife onto his lap and held her upright, steadying her, until she was calm enough to look around her. When she saw Alexis, who still looked like her, she jumped, prompting the shapeshifter to wince apologetically and turn back into her original form. The light of understanding dawned in Piper's eyes.

"Piper?" Leo asked gently. "Are you okay? What did they do to you?"

"Potions," she mumbled with effort. "Lots of potions. Spells, too. They wanted me to shapeshift, I gather, into you." She glanced towards Alexis, and nodded off again.

"Is she going to be okay?" Paige asked Leo worriedly.

"I think so. The good news is that I healed her body; I healed what's underneath all of the dark magic. Now all we can do is wait for the potions to wear off and for the spells to fade, and she'll be good as new. Until then, she needs to rest." Leo lifted his sleeping wife up and carried her slowly upstairs, leaving a tense group alone in the living room. Phoebe sighed and leaned on the back of the couch for support, only to be thrust into a violent premonition of a group of demons attacking herself, Paige, Chris, and Alexis in the manor's living room. She groaned.

"Incoming," she announced to the room. She pointed at Alexis. "Shapeshift. We'll need you to play the part, if only for effect. You can use some of the generic potions we in the kitchen; just throw them at anything that moves and we'll do just fine." Alexis hurried towards the kitchen, shapeshifting in midstep, and returned with potions just in time to see six assorted demons shimmer into the room. Phoebe, Paige, and Chris launched into an offensive, but they had barely gotten a few good punches in when all six enemies went up in flames. The three confused Halliwells turned to Alexis, who was now out of potions and looking slightly shocked.

"Wow," Chris said, impressed. "Good arm!"


	4. Chapter 3

_It's mine! It's all mine! (laughs maniacally as Brad Kern calls security)_

**Chapter Three**

Phoebe and Paige swung instantly into action, calling out orders and hurrying towards the attic stairs.

"Where are you guys going?" Chris asked, surprised.

"Did any of those guys look familiar to you?" Phoebe asked sarcastically.

"The brute squad from the bodyguard service just left its calling card," Paige responded. "We have to be ready to take on the real thing. Sorry, Alexis, but it looks like you're stuck here until we can take care of these guys. Chris, go check on Piper." Chris nodded and orbed to the hallway outside of his parents' room. He pressed his ear against the door and could hear nothing but the peaceful sounds of his father murmuring comforting words to his mother, so he smiled and walked back downstairs, hoping to talk to Alexis. The living room was now empty, and after a couple seconds of glancing around, he noticed that the front door was slightly open. Chris worried for a moment that she had run off, but he found her, in her own form, sitting glumly on the front porch with her chin resting on her fist. She looked up when he sat down next to her, and he offered her a smile.

"Hey," he began. "What you did in there, with the potions? That was pretty impressive."

"Six years of Little League," she responded with a small smile. "I made varsity my freshman year." Chris frowned and opened his mouth to speak, but he caught the expression on her face and forgot what he was going to say. The shapeshifter's head had fallen into her hands and she looked utterly miserable.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Chris asked, confused.

"I feel so awful about what happened to Piper," Alexis responded. "Y'all had nothing to do with any of my problems, and now she's all messed up, because of the selfish things I did. I just wish there were something I could do to fix all this."

"There is," Chris replied with a small smile. "Help us beat these guys so she has a chance to get better. It's that simple."

"Yea?" Alexis asked, looking slightly consoled.

"Yea," Chris answered, his smile widening. "Mom's a tough old bird. Give her a few days. She'll be up and kicking in no time."

"Thanks," Alexis said, her face brightening for a moment, and then twisting slightly in confusion. "I don't even know what your name is."

"It's Chris," Chris replied. "Chris Halliwell."

"Well, Chris," Alexis said, smiling and extending her right hand towards him. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Likewise," Chris replied with uncharacteristic levity, reaching out to shake her outstretched hand. Their fingers had barely touched when they heard and felt a large explosion behind them. Alexis and Chris whipped around, their light moment forgotten, as the unmistakable sounds of a muffled battle rang out within the walls of the Manor. They glanced at one another briefly and ran head on into the chaos.

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Half an hour later, a disheveled Phoebe headed upstairs to assure Piper that all was well and to send Leo down to heal the various cuts and scrapes that the group had acquired. Alexis in particular was covered with them, as she had no fighting power or training and was forced to rely on potions and intuition. She collapsed onto the sofa in the living room, closing her eyes and breathing heavily. Paige was shuffling around, cleaning up the broken furniture and overturned items around the manor, and Alexis was considering offering to help when Chris fell into a seat across from her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, nodding towards a particularly nasty scrape across the left side of her forehead.

"Yea, I think so," she replied, gingerly prodding the bruising area around the cut. She shrugged. "I'll survive."

"Good," interjected Paige, as she and Phoebe sat down on either side of Chris with slight frowns marring their features. "Because this is nowhere near over."

"What?" Chris cried. "We blew all those guys to pieces!"

"That wasn't all of them," Alexis said quietly. "If you want to take out the whole service, you've got your work cut out for you because there are lots more."

"And now's the time when they're at their weakest. Now's the time to take them all out," Paige said gently. "We're going to have to ask for your help for a little while longer, Alexis." Alexis took a deep breath, and slowly nodded her head in agreement.

"What do y'all plan to do?" she asked.

"Well," Phoebe began, gathering up the weapons that the fallen demons had left behind. "We-" She broke off as her hand touched a frighteningly sharp athame and she was thrown into a premonition. When it was over, she looked around nervously, and met Paige's eyes. "Bad news."

"What'd you see?" Paige and Chris asked at the same time.

"It looks like our friendly demon bodyguard service isn't all that's going on in that tomb. They're doing something, I'm not sure what, but something with test tubes and jars and science, you know?"

"Well that can't be good," Paige said. "Demons and science? Together? I do not foresee a happy ending to that particular melodrama."

"We have to go back!" Chris interrupted forcefully. "We have to go down there and figure out what they're mixing up! Maybe it'll give us some clue on how to help Mom if we can figure out what exactly they gave her."

"Agreed," Phoebe said decisively. "We need a plan, and it needs to be one we can pull off quickly so we can help Piper. Alexis, what powers exactly do you have?" Alexis glanced nervously towards Chris before beginning.

"Well, shapeshifting, obviously. And the ability to combine and channel power," she said hesitantly. "Which is totally useless to me, seeing how I have no powers to channel." She added as an afterthought, oblivious to the delighted looks breaking out across the other three faces in the room.

"That's it!" Chris exclaimed. "We'll combine our powers and channel them through you!"

"Okay, what now?" Alexis asked, confused. "Y'all don't have any powers that fall under the category of 'ass-kicking'. Blowing stuff up is Piper's thing, and she's out of commission for the time being."

"But we don't have to blow anything up," Paige said excitedly. "Chris and I have the power to orb and Phoebe has the power of levitation! Combined and focused, our powers will be more than enough to move that whole tomb to somewhere totally unthreatening, say, for example, purgatory. We just have to get down there, find out what they're up to, and whoosh it off forever."

"Shapeshift! Orb!" Phoebe cried to Alexis and Chris. Alexis barely had time to change into Piper and arrange her face to hide the terrified look she'd been hiding before Chris took her hand and orbed her into a room full of surprised looking demons wearing lab coats. The moment was frozen as both parties stared at the other in horror, until Paige's voice broke the silence.

"Lab coats, guys?" A demon whose laminated nametag identified him as 'Krog, Supervisor' responded, looked terribly offended.

"Lab safety is very important, witch!" For a split second, everyone but Krog struggled to contain their hysterical laughter at the sheer bizarreness of their current situation, and then Phoebe spoke.

"So what are you guys up to down here, all alone?" she asked innocently, pretending not to notice the hordes of demons who were trying unsuccessfully to surround them without attracting attention.

"You came all the way down here expecting us to just tell you what we're doing?" a demon at Krog's left snarled. He conjured a fireball in his right palm and motioned for the other demons to do the same. "Let's blast them!" Fireballs lit the tomb, but Krog threw his leathery arm into the air and hollered,

"Stop!" The fireballs went out, as demons growled at him in confusion. Krog seemed eager to redeem himself, and explained, "Let's tell them what we're doing, boys!"

"What?" snarled a particularly large, scaly demon at the back of the crowd.

"Yea! Let's tell them. In fact, let's _show_ them what we're doing!" A murmur of understanding seemed to ripple through the crowd, and the Halliwells glanced at each other apprehensively as Krog stepped forward, a large vial of ominously bubbling orange solution in his claws.

"You see, witches, this solution, if injected into a human being, will irreparably alter their genetic makeup. In short, it will turn them and their powers evil. Purely demonic. Forever. And, since you've been so kind as to ask, we'd like to test the first batch out on you."


	5. Chapter 4

_It's still not mine. Sigh._

**"You see, witches, this solution, if injected into a human being, will irreparably alter their genetic makeup. In short, it will turn them and their powers evil. Purely demonic. Forever. And, since you've been so kind as to ask, we'd like to test the first batch out on you."**

As Krog stepped closer, vial of bubbling potion gripped between his leathery fingers, Phoebe pretended to consider what he had just said. Slowly, she shook her head.

"One second. That potion makes humans into demons, right?"

"It does," Krog hissed, as the crowd of demons growled in delight at their achievement.

"Does it not also turn demons human?" Phoebe asked.

"It would turn the transformed ones," Krog admitted reluctantly. "Hence all of the safety concerns. We don't want to be turned into humans in the process, no matter what great things we'll be accomplishing here."

"Dude, did you just say 'hence'?" Paige demanded incredulously. Krog's face flushed slightly and a demon stepped up from behind him to smack him on the back of the head.

"Thanks," Krog muttered reluctantly to his attacker. "One of the more unfortunate side effects of the transformation. I have yet to lose some of my human tendencies."

"You were human?" Alexis asked quietly, almost sadly.

"I was," Krog assented, disgusted. "Several of us were. Luckily, this group and their potion saved us, and I will pass the favor onto you. With the Charmed Ones on our side, we will be unbeatable. Prepare for demonization."

"Demonization? Like democratization?" Phoebe asked, subtly signaling to the other members of her posse to prepare to make their move.

"Uh, I guess," Krog responded, bewildered. "Not important. Time for you to drink up."

"Actually," Paige replied, motioning to Alexis, who took a deep breath. "If Piper is ready, it's time for it to get just a little bit hot in here."

"Now!" Phoebe yelled, and Phoebe, Paige, and Chris all threw their hands towards Alexis, channeling pure magic into the young demon, who closed her eyes in an attempt to center herself. She steadily grew brighter and brighter until a brilliant blue aura of magic surrounded her, and she appeared to be struggling to contain the magic as more and more poured in from the group surrounding her.

"Is she okay?" Chris called to Phoebe and Paige over the steadily louder orbing twinkles and levitation whooshes that were filling the cave.

"Hold steady!" Phoebe called back. "She knows what she's doing!" As if on cue, Alexis took in a deep breath and threw her arms forward, towards the crowd of demons that had huddled together in the center of the underground lab, confused and frightened. A huge wave of magic, in the form of bright blue orbs and smoky levitation magic, rushed towards the crowd and enveloped them and their surroundings.

"Send them off!" Alexis yelled over their confused shouts, and Phoebe, Paige, and Chris closed their eyes and concentrated fiercely, directing the magic and sending the demons away, presumably to purgatory. The deserted cave and the abandoned lab equipment sat innocently empty, and Alexis leaned on one of the walls, breathing heavily. Chris hurried to her side, followed closely by Phoebe and Paige.

"Are you all right?" he asked, concerned. Alexis grimaced and raised one shaky hand above her head to snap her fingers and transform from a tired looking Piper into an exhausted version of herself. The witches gasped when they realized that she was still covered in deep scrapes leftover from the battle at the Manor, and that much of her exposed skin was beginning to bruise.

"We forgot to have Leo heal you," Paige moaned. "Alexis, I am so sorry."

"S'okay," Alexis mumbled, drooping over in fatigue. "S'not really that bad. Channeling just takes it out of you, that's all. I'll be a-okay."

"You're going straight home and getting some good old fashioned Whitelighter healing, understand?" Paige asked firmly. "You look like you're about to fall over."

"I just might be," Alexis replied as she stood up, only to waver and nearly fall down. Chris caught her gently and said to his aunts,

"Let's go home. We need to tell Mom and Dad what happened, and get her patched up," Ignoring Alexis' protests, Chris orbed her to the Manor and laid her softly down on the couch while Paige went to bring Leo. Alexis muttered a quiet thanks before passing completely out on the conservatory couch. Chris smiled at her, and glanced up to see his father and Phoebe entering the room.

"How's Mom?" he asked Leo, as he stepped forward to examine the wounds on the sleeping girls' face and arms.

"She's asleep, probably for the first time in a few days. She's exhausted, and weak, but she's going to be fine," he replied with a relieved smile. He turned back to Alexis. "This one will also be fine. She's all surface wounds, not to mention entirely drained of magic. Whatever you guys did down in that cave really did a number on Alexis. Do you want me to try and heal her?" he asked.

"Why wouldn't we?" Chris asked, confused.

"She's a demon, Chris," Leo replied. "She may not heal completely, or even heal at all. Should I try, or just let her heal the old way?"

"You might as well try," Chris said with a shrug, as Phoebe and Paige nodded in agreement. Leo raised his hands to hover above Alexis' peaceful looking face and closed his eyes as a warm healing glow came from them. Slowly, the deepest of Alexis' cuts began to close and the worst of her bruising began to fade, but when the healing stopped the progress was far from complete. Leo lowered his hands and turned to his son.

"Should I keep going?" he asked. Chris paused a moment, looking to Phoebe for her opinion.

"Let her be," Phoebe said decisively. "I can whip up a healing potion for the rest of it and just let her sleep it off. Time and rest are all that will replace the lost magic, and she might as well be healing while she's working at that."

"She can have my room," Paige volunteered, and the others nodded in assent. Paige closed her eyes and orbed the sleeping demon out of the room. "All set!" she said when she had landed Alexis gently onto her bed. As Leo went to check on Piper, and Phoebe and Paige went to work on the healing potion, Chris sighed and continued with the abandoned cleaning effort that never actually seemed to end. But, futile or not, Chris did not want his mother waking up to a dirty house. He'd never hear the end of it.

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

It took quite a bit of concentration, but Alexis managed to convince both of her eyes to open, and stay opened. She glanced around for a moment, confused, before she remembered exactly what had happened that had landed her in the Halliwell Manor, unconscious. Sighing in resignation, she pulled herself out of bed and examined her arms and legs. They were healing slowly, but nicely, she noted with satisfaction. Having completed the necessary inventory and made sure that she was still intact and in working order, Alexis opened the door to what she had surmised was Paige's bedroom and wandered down the hallway and down the stairs. The house appeared to be empty, but Alexis soon came upon Piper, sitting at the kitchen table in her pajamas, brow furrowed as she studied the back of the Honey Smacks box.

"Morning," she said, smiling slightly, noting that Piper had been trying hard to work out a maze printed on the box. "Have you figured it out yet?"

"Not yet," Piper replied, sounded irritated and shaking her head. "It's like the damn frog doesn't even want to find the damn lily pad!" With that, she shoved the box down to the other end of the table and grumbled to herself for a moment, before glancing up at Alexis. "Hey! You're awake!"

"So are you," Alexis replied, smiling back at Piper as she shoved her hand into the cereal box and pulled out a handful of cereal. "Are you all patched up?"

"I'll probably live," Piper responded airily. "You?" Alexis stopped chewing for a moment and mentally berated herself for not having checked to see if she had healed magically, as well as physically. She shut her eyes, concentrated, and was relieved to feel the familiar flooding of magic course through her body. Content, she opened her eyes and swallowed her cereal.

"Good as new, magic and all," she told Piper. "I appreciate y'all taking such good care of me."

"Oh, don't thank me," Piper hurried to reply. "I've been unconscious."

"You too, huh?" Alexis asked, giggling a little at Piper's matter-of-fact tone. "When did you wake up?"

"Yesterday, after three days in the wonder of Coma-Ville."

"I was out for four days?" Alexis yelped. "I have to get home! I have to talk to the office and check on my puppy and fix all the ways my life must have gotten messed up while I was laying upstairs, asleep! What?" she asked, annoyed by the amused look on Piper's face.

"Relax, kiddo. We took care of everything. Actually, Chris did," she added as an afterthought.

"Chris did?" Alexis asked, unconvinced.

"Absolutely," Piper confirmed. "He found your information in your purse, called you in sick, and adopted your dog, even though Phoebe declared her a yeti and refuses to go very close to her."

As if on cue, the front doors of the Manor burst open and an obscenely large Bernese Mountain Dog charged inside, dragging a laughing Chris behind her. A few seconds later, Paige entered as well, looking harried and closing the door while mumbling something about crazed canines. The dog, delighted to see her owner for the first time in four days, immediately launched herself into Alexis' lap and began to lick her face frantically. Alexis laughed, and glanced up to thank Chris, who, she noticed with pleasure, looked almost as happy to see her as her dog did.

"You're awake!" he exclaimed, while struggling to unclasp the leash from around the massive dog's collar. "How do you feel?"

"I'm all better," Alexis replied, scratching her huge dog behind the ears. "Thanks for taking care of Trixie Pixie for me." She frowned in confusion as the looks on the faces surrounding her slipped into expressions of shock. "What?" Chris pointed a finger towards the dog that had stretched out on the ground, chin resting on Alexis' feet, practically drooling with contentment.

"Trixie Pixie?" he asked, stunned past the point of being able to form complete sentences.

"Yes," Alexis replied hesitatingly. "My puppy-dog."

"Dude," Paige interjected, shaking her head. "We'd been calling that monster Jell-O Bruiser."

"I'm sorry, Jell-O Bruiser?" Alexis asked, bewildered. Piper nodded sagely, though she seemed to be laughing at Paige more than she seemed to be agreeing with her.

"Apparently Missy Paige believes that true monstrosity is only achieved when the being in question is able to bruise Jell-O," she said, sounding perfectly serious but looking to be dangerously close to giggling. "Your dog is just monstrous enough."

"It's true!" Paige assented, shaking her head empathetically. "There is no way I will ever be able to call her Trixie Pixie."

"That's fine," Alexis replied with a smile. "Y'all have done quite enough for me already. I'll just take my giant Jell-O Bruiser and take off."

"What?" Piper demanded, looking quite thunderstruck by the notion. "You most certainly will not! You've done an amazing thing for this family and this city, and now that we're all conscious again we are going to celebrate, dammit!"

"Okay, okay!" Alexis said, throwing her hands up in defeat. "We'll celebrate! I'm still going home, though. I'm ready to get out of the clothes I've been wearing for the last four days."

"That is allowed," Piper decreed magnanimously. "But you'd better meet us at P3 tonight or there'll be hell to pay."

"Deal," Alexis replied, taking Trixie Pixie's leash from Chris with a smile. "P3, tonight, new clothes."

"And no huge dog!" Phoebe hollered from the door that she had just walked into, only to balk in poorly concealed fear and edge into the kitchen with her back pressed against the far wall. "No huge dog!"


	6. Chapter 5

_This one's for the girls- who I don't own but will surely miss._

**Chapter Five**

Piper had had quite a few bad moments throughout her life, moments when she knew, instantly, that something was afoot, and that no good could possibly come of it. There was the moment she saw Phoebe, who turned out to actually be Paige, try to levitate but end up spinning uncontrollably in circles instead. There was the moment she first saw her husband orb into their bedroom wearing the gold and white robes that proclaimed him an Elder. And, most recently, there was the moment she glanced at Gideon's seemingly innocent expression as he reached out his arms for Wyatt. Yes, Piper was familiar with that tiny lurch of suspicion, of misgiving, that was all too often followed by a life-altering catastrophe. However, the countless stomach-jerk inducing events that came to Piper's mind as she stood behind the bar at P3, eyes narrowed, did not come close to the feeling of near panic that hit her as she watched Alexis enter the nightclub.

"Piper?" Phoebe asked in a voice filled with concern. "Piper"

"What's with her?" Paige asked from across the bar, leaning close to Phoebe as they examined Piper's frozen, scowling form.

"She's been glaring at the door since Alexis walked in, and I'm starting to fear both vision damage and eye wrinkles on her behalf. Seriously now, Piper!"

"What?" Piper growled, eyes still locked on Alexis, who was drawing nearer, cutting slowly through the crowd.

"Stop glowering at Alexis!" Paige hollered over the music, waving one hand energetically in front of Piper's face, only to have Piper shoot her right hand out and grab her arm, effectively and unexpectedly stopping her forward motion. "Okay. Ow."

"Piper," Phoebe ventured hesitantly, prying her sister's fingers off of Paige's reddening wrist. "You invited Alexis, remember?"

"Of course I remember," Piper replied through clenched teeth. "But I sure as hell don't remember her looking like _that_ when I invited her."

Phoebe and Paige reluctantly nodded their agreement and turned to watch as Alexis caught up with Chris and, with one smile, drew him effortlessly away from the attractive girl he'd been talking to. The young demon had been pretty enough when they'd met her, in her faded blue jeans and Texas Longhorns t-shirt, dark brown hair hanging loose past her shoulders, framing a makeup-free face with sparkling brown eyes and an easy smile, but now… Dressed in a dark blue halter top dress that clung to her upper body and swirled around her knees, hair pulled up and curled, eyes darkened and lips reddened, she looked nothing short of absolutely gorgeous, a fact that was obviously not lost on Chris. Piper's eyes narrowed even further as the duo made their way to the bar.

"Hi Mom, Aunt Phoebe, Aunt Paige," Chris greeted the three witches in turn, as Alexis smiled broadly at them, though faltering a bit upon seeing Piper's barely concealed grimace. "Having fun?"

"Loads," Piper replied in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Hey, you guys!" Phoebe interrupted hastily, stepping in front of Piper, leaving Paige to silently admonish their surly sister for her rude behavior. "Alexis! I'm glad you could make it! You look fabulous, by the way."

"Agreed," Paige seconded, having succeeded in forcing Piper to lower her expression from fuming to merely grim. Alexis blushed slightly.

"Thanks. It feels good to be out and about again," she replied, before turning to Chris expectantly. "Dance?"

"I don't," he began with a grin, but Alexis already had him by the hand and was dragging him forcibly to the crowded dance floor. "But it looks like I'm going to." Piper groaned.

"My little boy is dancing with a demon!" she whined melodramatically, dropping her forehead to the counter and banging it lightly against the polished wood. "Where did I go wrong?" Phoebe and Paige glanced in Piper's direction and rolled their eyes, glad to see Leo headed in their direction.

"Piper," Phoebe said. "Quit with the head banging; there's sanity in sight."

"Hey, everyone," Leo greeted the sisters as he stepped behind the bar and intercepted his wife's forehead as it traveled towards the bar. "What's wrong, honey?"

"That's wrong!" Piper whimpered pathetically as she pointed towards Chris and Alexis, who were currently dancing enthusiastically in the crowd.

"Wow!" Leo exclaimed, apparently shocked. "Chris is dancing!"

"Leo!" Piper cried, lightly smacking his arm. "Focus! Check out who he's dancing with, specifically."

"What? She's pretty!" Leo said, before leaning forward to examine the girl his son was spinning around. "Wait… Is that Alexis?" Leo caught sight of Piper's expression and hastened to calm her down. "Hey, Piper, it's okay. Chris is smart. He knows what he's doing when it comes to magic and he's not going to do anything stupid. Okay?" Piper sighed heavily.

"Okay," she agreed reluctantly, finally taking her eyes off the dancing couple and turning back to the business at hand. Her sisters had disappeared into the crowd as well, both with cute guys on their arms, as usual, and her sons were in the competent hands of her father, leaving her alone with Leo, which was one place she didn't get to be often enough. She leaned over to her husband and whispered nonchalantly in his ear, "Meet me in the office in three minutes." Leo grinned and ducked under the bar.

Meanwhile, Alexis and Chris settled down at a table at the side of the club, sweating, laughing, and nursing cold drinks.

"What happened to you not dancing?" Alexis asked, eyes dancing.

"I'm serious, I don't dance!" Chris replied with a laugh. "It's hard!"

"Hard?" Alexis asked, raising one eyebrow in challenge. "All guys have to do is stand there and hope for the best. The girl is the one exerting the effort. And you're not half bad at it, either."

"I guess I just needed the right inspiration," Chris said, waggling his eyebrows exaggeratedly in Alexis' direction.

"Maybe you did," she teased right back, loving the way that Chris had loosened up throughout the evening, and shamelessly wondering just how loose she could get him to be.

An hour later, Piper stumbled out of the P3 office, Leo's arm tight around her waist, grinning like a fool and feeling better than she had since she'd been kidnapped. She pondered this for a moment, then turned around and pulled Leo right back into the office, never noticing the laughing, tipsy Alexis and Chris who were staggering out the club door, arm in arm.

Later that night, Alexis rolled over in her bed and grinned sleepily when she cracked her eyes open and saw Chris' sleeping form draped carelessly beside her. She opened her eyes completely and watched him sleep for a moment. God, he was gorgeous. Alexis bit her lip, momentarily concerned with what would happen when he woke up, and then snuggled deeper into his arms, choosing to leave that unpleasant confrontation for the morning.

When the sun came up the next morning, Chris knew without even opening his eyes that he was in big, big trouble. Huge trouble. Quite possibly the most trouble he'd ever had the misfortune of finding himself in. He slowly opened his eyes to evaluate the badness of his current situation, and when he noticed that he was fully dressed he decided he was safe enough to risk a glance at the girl who lay sleeping in his arms. Big mistake. Chris had been attracted to Alexis since he'd first laid eyes on her, and seeing her now, sleeping peacefully, lips parted and smiling slightly, was making it very hard for him to remember why he couldn't just lean down and kiss her. He knew that the only thing he could possibly do to remind himself of her demonic nature was not be near her, so he did the one thing that came to mind. He leapt out of bed, jostling Alexis abruptly into consciousness, and headed for her bedroom door.

"Chris?" she asked, annoyed at having been rudely awoken and ignored. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Leaving," he replied, doubling back to look for the shoes that he had abandoned the night before. "I can't stay here."

"Why not?" Alexis demanded, irritated. "We didn't do anything last night, Chris, I swear. We danced, we laughed, we had a great time together. That's it."

"I know, Alexis, I remember last night," Chris said shortly, struggling to untie his shoelaces and avoid looking at her. "That's why I have to go."

"What?" Alexis exclaimed disbelievingly, struggling out of bed.

"I have to go because if I stay, we might continue to have a great time together," he elaborated, looking towards her for the first time.

"Chris, that's what normal people _want_ out of their relationships," she said stubbornly.

"I know," he insisted, running his hand through his hair in frustration. "But this, you and me, it's wrong. I'm sorry, but I have to go."

"I don't think so," Alexis replied, launching herself at Chris in desperation and pinning him to the door he'd been trying to escape through. Grateful that his surprise and shock had left him motionless, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him gently, persuasively, until she felt his rigid body relax into her own. As Chris gave in and began to respond, the kiss escalated into a passionate, all-consuming kiss that left them both breathless and amazed. As they broke apart, Alexis rested her forehead against Chris' and whispered,

"Does that feel wrong to you?" Chris closed his eyes and shook his head in resignation.

"No," he sighed. "It feels more right than anything I've done in a long time." He opened his eyes and looked into hers, smoothing down the top of her sleep-tousled hair. "So what do we do now?"

"Well," she said, "We sure as hell don't tell your mother, that's for sure!"

"Why not?" Chris asked curiously.

"Did you miss the death glares she was sending my way last night?" Alexis asked incredulously. "I think she hates me."

"She does not," Chris replied, laughing. "She just-" He broke off, looking up towards the ceiling as he heard a faint jingling in the back of his mind. "They're calling."

"The sisters?" Alexis asked, still hazy on how the whole witch-Whitelighter connection worked.

"Yeah," he replied, looking concerned and reaching once again for his shoes. "It sounds like it might be at least vaguely important." He finished with his feet and stood up, looking down at Alexis expectantly. "Well?"

"Well, what?" she asked, bewildered.

"Are you coming with me?" he asked, causing Alexis to duck her head to hide a pleased smile, slide her feet into a pair of flip flops, and take Chris' hand to orb away.

The days slid slowly by for Chris and Alexis, filled with encounters with the demon of the week, lunches with the sisters, and dinners followed by long nights together. They were settling down in front of a Spurs-Lakers game, arguing energetically over the assets of Duncan vs. Kobe, when Chris broke off in the middle of a sentence.

"What's wrong?" Alexis asked, noticing his panicked expression.

"Paige is hurt. I think the Manor is being attacked," he replied, grabbing Alexis' arm and orbing into the dining room, only to be pulled forcefully down behind the overturned dinner table by his mother. "What's going on?" he asked, grasping Paige's hand as Leo healed a large fireball wound on her right thigh.

"Demon," Phoebe replied, reaching over the side of the table to lob a potion towards the doorway. Chris peered around and saw one enormous demon take the potion with a grimace and launch another fireball at the table. Piper took the opportunity to blast the demon, who recoiled with a shudder and hollered,

"This isn't over, witches! I will have my revenge for the destruction of my life's work!" At this, Alexis joined Chris in peering around the edge of the large wooden table. She froze when the demon stared at her and grinned in a distorted, evil sort of way. The demon extended one talon-like finger in her direction and said, "Their deaths will be on your head, shapeshifter!"

"What?" Chris, Phoebe, and Leo cried in unison. Piper reached around to blast the demon once more, but he shimmered out, leaving the blast to hit the wall behind him. Leo helped an unsteady but fully healed Paige to her feet, as everyone stood to alternate between surveying the damage caused by a single demon, and staring in confusion at a very bewildered Alexis, who could do little else but stare right back.


End file.
